Patrick Bordeleau was selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Wild, which never signed him. Instead, the 6-foot-6 forward bounced around the “double-A” ECHL, before finally finding his niche with the Avalanche’s top minor-league affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, in 2009.

Perhaps only fitting, he is on track to make his NHL debut Saturday in the Avs’ season opener at Minnesota, the one team he holds a grudge against.

“That would be all right, I guess,” Bordeleau, 26, said with a smile Thursday. “Really happy. Long road for me.”

The Avs trimmed their season-opening roster to 23 players Thursday when forward David Van Der Gulik was put on waivers. The club reassigned defenseman Stefan Elliott and forward Mike Sgarbossa to Lake Erie on Wednesday, paving the way for Bordeleau and center Mark Olver to make the team out of camp.

They held their first official Pepsi Center practice Thursday morning.

“It’s awesome,” Avs defenseman Shane O’Brien said of Bordeleau’s opportunity. “He paid his dues in the minors, fought everybody. He makes our team a lot tougher and gives Macker (Cody McLeod) a little bit of help. So it’s huge for us. Now teams won’t be able to come in here and push us around, and gives our skills guys more room on the ice. And most important, he’s a great guy. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Olver is the fourth-line center, and given that forward Chuck Kobasew is recovering from the flu, the Avs are carrying only 13 forwards and the Wild might use heavyweight enforcer Matt Kassian, chances are good Bordeleau will be in the 20-man lineup Saturday.

Avs coach Joe Sacco said he likely will use the traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen Saturday.

So the 230-pound Bordeleau likely will play with Olver and McLeod.

“The thing I like about Bordy is, he can (also) play,” Sacco said. “I can put him in situations where he’s not just on the bench (waiting to fight). Hopefully he can get some ice time with that (fourth) line. He’s a physical force for us, obviously. He’s in it for a reason and he’s another guy who makes us harder to play against.”

Bordeleau had two goals and seven points in 29 games with Lake Erie this season, with 91 penalty minutes.

“No change for me. It’s the same game,” Bordeleau said. “Might be easier for me to play here than in Cleveland. I was tough down there and I’ll be tough here.”

Footnotes. Sgarbossa and Lake Erie teammate Andrew Agozzino were named AHL all-stars Thursday, along with former University of Denver forwards Drew Shore, Jason Zucker and Beau Bennett, each first-year pros. … The Avalanche will practice at 10 a.m. Friday before departing for Minn- esota.

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